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OTAGO ANNIVERSARY

SERVICES AT FIRST CHURCH. LARGE GATHERINGS AND IMPRESSIVE ADDRESSES. Services in celebration of the seventyfourth anniversary of the’foundation of the Province of Otago were’conducted in First Church morning and evening yesterday. In the morning there was a very largo congregation, and in the evening, when his Worship the Mayor (Mr J. S. Douglas) and city councillors were present, the accommodation of the church was taxed to its utmost. A special appeal had been made for an Anniversary Day offering of £3OO, and a sum of over £220 was contributed during the day. The interest and effectiveness of the services wore much enhanced by the fine congregational singing that one has learned' to associate with First Church, . and a wellbalanoed choir contributed still further to this result by an interpretatior of its anthems that was felt to bo in full sympathy with the spirit of the occasion. The organist and choirmaster (Mr V. E. Galway) further maintained the high tone of the services by his masterly accompanying and solo work. The evening service concluded with a memorably impressive rendering of the “Ilellehijab Chorus” from the choir. The weather was fine, though dull, and as will be seen from the appended list, a very large number of early settlers, including three who arrived by the Philip Laing, were present at the services. The following are the names handed in:—Philip (1848): Miss Agnes Burns, Mrs (Jhas. Findlay, and Mrs Marion Allan (neo Seaton). Mariner (1849): Mrs R. Chisholm. Mr Geo. Galder, and Mr Jno. Galder. Mooltan (1849): Mr Jas. Curie. Royal Albert (1853): Mrs W. L. Craig (nee . Lindsay). Stately (1854): Mrs H. Garni©. Strathmore (1856): Mrs L. Maclean (nee Morrison). Challenger (1856): Sir G-. .Fenwick. Sir E. Paget (1856) Mr Alex. Kilgour. Geo. Canning (1857) Mr Jno. Heir. Maori (1857): Mr W. L. Craig. Jura (1858): Mrs D. C. Hutton. Mr Thos. Moodie, Mrs Keith Ramsay, Mr W. Paterson, and Miss Paterson. StraUiallan (1868): Mr W. Co us ton and Mrs E. Broadfoot. Three Bells (1858): Mr Jas. Edmond. Robt. Henderson (1858): Mrs S. Thompson (neo M’Kenzie). Gloucester (1658) : Mr J. W. Comissiong. Sevilla (1859) : Mrs T. S. Shaw, Mr S. Thompson, a nd Mrs W. IT. Purvis. Alpine (1859): Mr Jno. Duthie. Gala (18601 ; Mr F. Nieoll and Mrs W. (noe Lindsay). Evening Star (I 860): Mr J. D. Low. Stormcloud (1860) : Mr R. Crawford, Mrs Outhbertson, and Mrs M. Bernes (nee Block). Silistria, (1860): Mrs 11. F. Mackenzie (nee Sim). D.'adda (I 860): Mr IVm, Taylor and Mrs Alex. Kilgour (nee Peat). Pladda (1861): Mr Geo. Brown. Robt. Henderson (1861); Mrs David Wisbart. Astra (1862): Mr J. W. Cunningham. Aldinga (1862): Mr J. B. Gilmour. Tamar (1862): Mr J. Carrington. Bombay (1862): Mr J. B. Sliacklock. Pladda (1862 l : Mr J. W. Cunningham. Arrived (18621: Mr Geo. Brown. Jura (1862) : Mrs Jas. Raitt (neo Dickson). SjlisIria (1862): Mrs Jas. Reid (neo Rennie) and Mr W. MTlutclieson. Sarah M. (1863): Bertha Atkinson (nee Lloyd). Sevilla. (1863) Mr J. Waddell Smith. Nelson (1863): Mr Robt. Smith and Mrs W. 11. Adams. Caribou (1865): Mrs R. Braid. Resolute (1864): Mr W. Brown and Mr •las. Brown. Victus (1664' : Mrs R. N. Adams. Aboukir (1864): Mr Thos. Scott anti Mrs J. Duff. Andrew Jackson (1864): Mr A. M‘Kinnon. Mr Jas. Don, and Mrs Jas. Don. Thracian (1865) : Mr W. H. Adams. Rangitoto (18671: Mr R. Williams. Robt. Henderson (1867): Mr W. T. Gilmour. MORNING SERVICE. The preacher at the morning service was the Rev. Hector Maclean. Mr Maclean referred at the outset to the historic position of First: Church and recalled the fact that that church and the city and the province had a common origin. He spoke ns one who was conscious ot the great debt lie owed to the men and women who had mode this pr.pyinoe what it is. Very gratefully we acknowledged that our lines have fallen to us in pleasant places and that ours has been a goodly heritage. “There is,” he continued, “another inheritance which wc of g younger generation have received and which 1 hope we estimate at its true value. I moan our spiritual heritage. It is particularly here that this church is concerned. This anniversary of yours to-day takes us back, Sunday by Sunday, over the whole 74 years to that Sabbath in April, 1848, when in the barracks, occupied by the passengers from the John Wiokliffe, Dr Burns preached his first sermon in Dunedin. Beyond that we are led through the weary months on shipboard to the religions life and the church worship of Scotland; and thus we are brought into the lino of direct descent from John Knox and the Reformation. . Presbyterian ideas and ideals are embodied in the early history of this province and city. The influence of them is irrevocable. While Otago lasts, they will last. Wo simply cannot get away from the fact that this settlement was originally a means of implanting in this new land all that the Free Church stood for in rfcotland. Our spiritual heritage is derived from that form of the Christian faith which won for Scotland not only her religious but her political freedom. To this freedom the movement which led to the Disruption of 1845 has contributed no mean share. In these days we are reluctant to say very much about tho particular genius of cur own denominations lest what we say is misinterpreted and we are regarded as being blind partisans of that for’ which wo stand. That is an entirely erroneous attitude. Speaking personally may I be allowpd to say that in the past few morphs I have come round to the firm conviction that wo must have church union, and that the 1 recent set backs to tho union movement, so far from shutting the door, should send us more sincerely and urgently to an examination of ourselves (o see whore the trouble lies with d view to removing it. But that trouble is not to be avoided by maintaining a discreet silence about the beat things in onr denominational life. After all these are what we slant} for, and it it is these very things which will make any union rich and fruitful. For too long tho attitude has been on all sides tho consideration of wthat is the maximum the several churches are prepared to concede for tho sake of union. The angle from which we must approach this matter in the future is the consideration of tho maximum we oa.n give to a united church. As I take it the life of the resultant whole must be something greater than the life of the Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregational, or the Anglican Churches. It can never be leas than any of these have at present—or what is the use of union? Tho question is, What can each of tho existing churches take over to make a more perfect whole? . . I do not think that such a conception as this would he in any way a betrayal of that faith viiich our fathers brought with them to this land, and which wo are all so thankful to God that we received as our spiritual heritage. . . . Are those who have seen the development of the past 74 years satisfied with what they have seen? What do they think of our work? I have never asked any of them, but it would be worth while getting (heir views. They must be more than satisfied with the material progress of the city and the province. It scorns uncanny to us of a younger day that there are those among us who have seen Dunedin grow from the nothing she was into this beautiful and populous city that rouses us all to pride and keeps us loyal to her wherever on the face of tho earth we may wander. . Yes. 1 think they are satisfied with what ha.- keen done by (heir fathers, themselves, and liieii- sons. But what about the other things which make tip tho life of a people? In some directions they will bo content. They have seen a tremendous development in the education of the young. They have seen a growth in the means for relieving suffering and preventing disease. They' have seen an advance in tho organisation of philanthropy. But they must bo saddened with the little that has been achieved in other ways. According to the records one of (lie first difficulties (hoy had to face wap a labour dilnoulty. Wo have not, solved that problem yet. It may bo we are no nearer its solution. They have watched a breaking down of family life and a disintegration of (ho powers of self-control. They would not. ask that their children and (heir children's children should have to submit, to the same hardships ns they bad to endure, but they .must shako their heads at the hectic: rush for pleasure and amusement, which is characteristic of our modern life. They would say it is not in (bis way that nature was subdued and the rough places made, plain. And the religious life? They have to go carefully here, for (hough (here may bo losses there are also compensations. Only (hoy aro sure of this, that there is not tho same love of tho Word of God and the tiny of God as animated the community of their younger days. There has come inlo lifo a, tendency towards practical athe>*(m which does not formally deny God but which actually leaves Him out of account altogether. These considerations bring mo to my text. . . . “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, hut having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” Hebrews

xi, 13. Surely tho meaning of such an anniversary as we celebrate to-day is that the best lies not in the past but in the future if only wo remain true to the beginning that lias been rn. Jp. by our fathers. It is nothing less than the task of making real tho universal sway of Christ to which wc are summoned. It was for that our fathers were building when they laid tho foundations 74 years ago. And hero in church and city and province we aro called to do our life’s work. For all we are all we achieve, to have any value at all in the sight of God, must have to do with the building of Jerusalem in this "green and pleasant land.” EVENING. SERVICE. The preacher in the evening was the Rev, G. H. Balfour. He took for his texts Phllippians iii, 14: “Reaching forth unto those things which are before,” and Hebrews xi, 10; "He looked for a city which hath foundations.” These texts, he said, glow with a spirit of expectancy, which is the spirit of the New Testament. The Apostles were continually making discoveries and looking for others. For all Christians the future is bright with hope. There is, of course, inspiration in the past, reviving experiences of other days when the love of God has been manifested. “Thou shalt remember all tho way that the Lord thy God hath led thee,” said the Prophet of Israel. But the golden ago is before us. The future has in store for ua deeper fellowship with Christ, a fuller experience of His grace, and new attainments and victories for ourselves and others. We must never let our hope or expectancy grow dim. Hope inspires to action. A splendid example of this is Dr Laws of tjjvingstonia Mission in tho heart of Africa. Against tremendous odds as a boy and a young man ho prepared himself for service, graduating in both medicine and theology, and studying everything that might be of use to him in the foreign field. And when he accepted the call to go to Central Africa lie was always thinking ajiead. He was the first to sail a steamoV on Lake Niasa. He suffered almost incredible hardships, in (bo midst, of wild beasts, naked savages, and deadly diseases. And be Ifas succeeded in a most marvellous way. Ho has brought peace and goodwill amongst, the people, destroyed many kinds of brutality, opened the country for trade, and has been the means ol bringing thousands under the power of the Gospel o£ Christ. Tho mission occupies a tract of country of some 80 square miles. There are 680 schools, 282 teachers and monitors, and over 36,000 pupils. The settlement is a hive of industry, and hundreds of carpenters, builders, electricians, telegraphists, and others have been trained. There is a well-equipped hospital. There are 41 congregations, 604 1 elders and deacons, and 103,000 people professing Christianity. “My life.” he once said, “has been spent in trying to change dreams into realities.” In this spirit wo are to face the future. Amid much that is disheartening the Divine Voice is saving to-day. “Courage. I am with yon. Bo not afraid.” But (bo better and the best do not come automatically. Wo must. pray. We must believe. We must lav bold on the power of Almighty God, and seek to translate our ideals into facts. The Church has a great part to play in the creation of a better world, because it is in real relation with God in Christ. But. the Church must realise afresh its real function. Jt does not. exist to entertain, to provide pleasant Sunday mornings, afternoons, or evenings. It docs not exist simply to attract crowds, nor is it, a political machine. It is to aim at influencing all parties and 1.0 manifest the Will of God. but its function is not party politics. God has given the Church greater things to do, and more difficult God has set His Church in the world that it may tear witness to Him. That is why it is bore—that it may make Him real to men, that it may make His truth clear and compelling to all men’s minds, that it may make His Will the law 1.1 all men’s minds. The world is so much with us. God is elbowed out of sight and forgotten, and it is for the Church to restore the lost sense of God. ami to reknit tho sundered ties that bind us to Him —that <9 our business. Tho Church, too. should bo the conscience of tho community, and conscience is often a very troublesome and disturbing thing. It is meant to make evil uncomfortable. Tho Church is the body of Christ. The members of tho Church are to manifest in the world tho spirit of Christ, and through them Christ is to do His work. This is one great reason why wo aim at the union of the churches. A divided Church is incompetent to present the mind of Christ toward the world. Hence Christ Himself is tho compelling force toward union. Christians can only fully express the mind of Christ as they are in union. And they can do the work of Christ test with unity of command. The church is not to bo identified with its ministry, but consists of all its members. And it, calls on all men of goodwill to associate themselves with it and help to fulfil its aims. As a young man Theodore Roosevelt said, “If I joined tho Church, will not that put mo publicly on the right side?” And in a Lady’s Home Journal article lie said, “Every man who is a Christian at all shou'* 1 ••■'end some church. Yes, T know all the e- •■uses. I know that one can worship the Creator and dedicate onos-solf to -rood firing in a grove of trees or by a running brook, or in one’s own house just as well as in church. But I also know as a matter of cold fact the average man does not thus dedicate himself.” The Church calls on all in every sphere of lifo to co-operate in tho betterment and uplift of tho people. New and better times can only be produced through better men and women. And unless Hie old seek better things they must be, swept away and give place (o' others. God’s call to-day is for renewed men and women with high aims and keen expectancy for the future, men and women who will go into public life with absolutely disinterested motives, who will consecrate themselves to God and tho welfare of their fellows even though their reward may te loss and suffering. God 1 is calling for mon and women in the daily life of business, faithful and conscientious, who will do everything as unto the Lord, and not unto men. God is calling us unto penitence, to a humble confession of our sins and shortcomings, to a lifo of faith and obedience to Christ, and a dedication to what is true and honest and just and pure and lovely and of good report. We must be prepared to do hard things if Ho calls us to hard things. “Tho utmost for the highest” is to te our motto. Some of us may think that we can do little, that we are but ciphers. But if you put God before the cipher then you link yourself with the Infinite. All things are possible to. him that hclievet.h. Tho future is with Christ. Jesus Himself is the pledge of all progress. United with Him we become partakers of His future.

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Bibliographic details

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18514, 27 March 1922, Page 7

Word Count
2,906

OTAGO ANNIVERSARY Otago Daily Times, Issue 18514, 27 March 1922, Page 7

OTAGO ANNIVERSARY Otago Daily Times, Issue 18514, 27 March 1922, Page 7